BOLIVIA RECEIVES ON-SITE VISIT OF THE OAS ANTICORRUPTION MECHANISM (MESICIC)

From March 26 to 29, 2012, the Plurinational State of Bolivia received, with its consent, a visit by a team from the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism (Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption – MESICIC), as part of the review process of said Mechanism, carried out in accordance with the Methodology adopted by consensus by its Member States.

The team was composed by delegations from Ecuador and the United States, headed, respectively, by Mr. Mario Hidalgo Jara, General Coordinator of International Relations of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Oversight of Ecuador, and Mr. Robert Leventhal, Director for Anticorruption and Governance Initiatives of the U.S. Department of State, who represent their respective countries before the Mechanism and who were also supported by the General Secretariat of the OAS during the visit. 

During the four days of work, the members of the Commission met with representatives from the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the Comptroller General, the Office of the Attorney General, the Financial Investigation Unit, the Council of Magistrates, the Supreme Court of Justice, as well as with representatives from the Ministry for Institutional Transparency and Fight against Corruption, headed by Doctor Nardi Suxo Iturry, who also represents her country before the OAS Anticorruption Mechanism. These meetings were held, among others, in order to gather objective and complete information and to reveal potential difficulties in the implementation of the Inter-American Convention. They also provided an opportunity to facilitate the obtaining of information related to best practices, and provided Bolivia with the opportunity to benefit from or to request technical assistance.   

The Commission also had the opportunity to meet with civil society organizations, private sector organizations, professional associations, academics and researchers, in order to address issues related to the cooperation between the private sector and public institutions in the fight against corruption, mechanisms for citizen participation, as well as access to public information.  

The results of this visit forms part of the review process that is currently being carried out by the Committee of Experts of the MESICIC, and which will conclude with the adoption of the country report pm Bolivia by the Committee at its next Plenary meeting to be held in September 2012, at OAS Headquarters in Washington DC.  

The MESICIC is a cooperation mechanism between States, with the participation of civil society organizations, established within the framework of the OAS, in which the legal/institutional framework of each country is reviewed for suitability with the Inter-American Convention against Corruption as well as the objective results achieved therein. The incorporation of on-site visits as a stage and integral part of the MESICIC review process represents an innovative and pioneering initiative in the context of the OAS, especially for a peer review mechanism and the importance of the issues it addresses.

For more information on the MESICIC, please visit the Anti-Corruption Portal of the Americas at www.oas.org/juridico/english/fightcur.html

What is the MESICIC?

The Mechanism For Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, known as MESICIC for its Spanish acronym, is a tool to support the development of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through cooperation between States Parties.

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